Get Everything Done

Some have indicated that Mark's new system would play nice with electronics. Here's what I may try via Omnifocus (I own the software and app):

All new tasks get a "next month" due date (the software provides the date)
All repeating tasks get a "next week" due date
Certain tasks need a start date - for ex: clt reciepts require the day I saw the clt - this is easy to do in Omni.

Anyone else?

"All repeating tasks" should read:

"all tasks/projects that require further work"

Quick question:

Is there a way to have Omnifocus automatically sort/organize my tasks by due date? I can do this manually, but I'd prefer if this happens automatically.

I'm doing this electronically using excel. Sorting by "Expiry date." So far so good. The only thing I miss is an autohotkey to pop up a form for entering tasks? Anyone know how to do this?

Vegheadjones - does alt+D+O work? On my version of excel that combination (hold down ALT then press D O one at a time) pops up the form entry box (assuming you have headings on your spreadsheet)

Ctrl-Down, Down, start typing. Or if you do one sheet-a-month, click on the next tab over and you'll automatically be in the right line to enter stuff in.

I've got Mark's new system working on my iPhone and Mac. Sweet.

I've been using paper - with good results - for AF4 for the past couple of weeks. I enjoy the organic feel of paper. However, the lack of:

* search
* contexts/projects
* field for notes
* portability (yes paper is portable, but not nearly as portable as my iPhone)

made my return to electronics an easy choice. We'll see how long this lasts.

Thanks Lilian and Allen. I did not know about either shortcut-- great!

I should have explained though that my goal is to have it popup independently of what program I am in. So when I am working in Word (or say reading this post). I press a button and the excel form (or new line) pops right up. Andreas "qqick and dirty" application does this well with CAPSLOCK-A

Anyone know of a way to do that?

I live in Excel. But, I'd have to keep sorting.

I am thinking of just using Outlook. If I have time, I'll set it up tomorrow.

In the past, I've been thoroughly convinced that paper is superior for AF. But, this seems (!!!) to be a case where it would be a big advantage not to have to flip through so many physical pages. But I've been wrong about Mark's creations more often than I've been right.

You don't really have to just keep sorting since every new task goes into the future (+7 or +30). So I work the list until I get to the end (first new item) then I filter out completes, resort, and work from the top again.

Vegheadjones - can you put a shortcut to the file in your status bar? Then you'd just click the shorcut to open it (and leave it open and use alt-tab to go back and forth between open files). Instead of sorting out the completes, I'm moving them to a "done" tab in the same spreadsheet - still easily accessible if I need them, but not in the way otherwise. I'll do the same thing next week for the dismissed items.

I didn't want to have weekend dates, so I set up my spreadsheet where I enter today's date (input date in column A) and mark it as a New or Continued (N or C in column B) and an 'if' formula in column C to calculate the Expired Date ( if N, then input date + 28, if not, input date +7) Column D has the description. 28 days is close enough to one month and it avoids weekends which could happen with 30 days.

Okay, I've just started transitioning my AF4 list (in Lotus Notes ToDo synced with Outlook Mobile Tasks) into AF5/DIT2. Here's what I did and will do ...
(1) I was already using the task list sorted by due-date, where due-date was when I entered the tasks, now that need to change a bit.
(2) Re-entered tasks to use due-date as today+7.
(3) Totally new tasks to use due-date as today+30.
(4) I'll leave old uncompleted AF4 tasks at previous due-date, changing due-date to today+7 only for tasks that are still relevant. ;-)
(5) Add a marker task ">>>Today>>>" with today's due date, denoting expiry/dismissal of older tasks. I'll update it each day I work AF5/DIT2.
(6) Add a marker task "---Starting-AF5/DIT2---" with due date 2feb10.
... I think that's it ... now to go work AF5/DIT2 ...

Thanks Lilian for the shortcut idea, and thanks for sharing your column headings-- it prompted me to do the same.

A: Time started. I use this to indicate what task I am working on now and because I like to track the time spent on task. I made a macro that does the formula =today() and pastes it as a value.

B: Expiry date-- two macros, one for today+30 and one that copies a task and does today+7 since it is in progress. Again both paste the formulas as values

C: Days left-- (ColumnB-Today) value pasted

D: Task name

E: Time ended. =Now()- column A

f: Time spent on task Column E- Column A

g: Hyperlink (the reason why I moved from paper to digital)

That's it!

VegHeadJones - are you value-pasting the result for E too? If not, the result will change everyday when NOW() becomes tomorrow :)

Thanks Lillian-- I am indeed-- forgot to mention it...

Toodledo's iPhone app will work very well for the new approach because the default can be set up to enter tasks with a due date one month from today.

«I should have explained though that my goal is to have it popup independently of what program I am in. So when I am working in Word (or say reading this post). I press a button and the excel form (or new line) pops right up. Andreas "qqick and dirty" application does this well with CAPSLOCK-A»

If you send a sample excel sheet my way (andreas@autofocus.cc) and explain in detail what you do to enter a new task, I can whip something up for you.

Or you can wait for soon-to-be-released AutofocusAHK 0.9.3. :-)

Wow-- thanks! e-mail, file and description on its way! (Don't make fun of what's on the list ):)

I'm using Tadalist (tadalist.com) which allows for multiple lists. Our company operates on workweeks (this is ww06) so each week I will add new items to a list that is three weeks away. For example today I am adding to a list titled "ww09". This will give me four lists at a time.

I'm used to working in weekly buckets so it feels like this will work well - seeing what will expire in each week and getting a sense of how long things have gone undone.

OK, despite my initial dismissal of AF5 (pun intended), I'm going to test this out in Microsoft Outlook Tasks.

1. I've taken all my open tasks and put them in Outlook with a Due Date of March 2 (1 month from today).

2. I've setup a Tasks view to Group based on Due Date, Sort based on Creation time. I added an Automatic Formatting rule to underline any tasks whose "Due Date" is "on or before" "today". Once I get the hang of it I will probably update the view to filter out tasks that were due before today (i.e. dead, gone, buried).

So I see my tasks grouped by Date (right now, all I see is 85 tasks on March 2). As I go round that list and work them, I will modify them by resetting the due date to 1 week from now (Feb 9). Then I will have 2 lists that I collapse and expand to simulate turning of pages.

A nice feature of Outlook is that I can just type over the existing Due Date with the phrase "1 week" and Outlook will automatically set the due date for 1 week later. Same for "1 month".

I also use a colored Categories to denote GTD contexts, but that's just my own personal preference.

Actually I found this new DIT/AF system to be very compatible with mobile time management/calendar software such as Pocket Informant for Blackberry OS (which is what I use). The nitty gritty of my current setup is below, but in brief, what happens is

1) Every new task is automatically due 30 days (or, as I use it, 28 days) from the time I enter the said task

2) The tasks are listed chronologically: the tasks due nearer today are above the others.

3) (Now this is what I found really interesting) I can with two presses of a button set the due date of a task today so that I can highlight what I need to do; then with another few presses of a button, make its new due date one week from now.

4) Surprisingly, new tasks without any due or starting date are automatically relegated to the bottom of the heap; I therefore have a default way of listing "waiting for / something pending" tasks.

5) For my own edit of this new system, I can also with a few presses of a button to change the due date of a task /Tomorrow/, and change its priority. I can therefore set up what I think would be the most important thing to do tomorrow (reminiscent of the "Current Initiative" idea in the original DIT).


Mark, it seems you made this new system exactly for me and my phone. I thank you very heartily ^_____________^


So here are the details of my settings:

1) In Options --> Tasks
a) setup <New Task Default Dates> to "Start (Days from Today): 0" (This is so that the tasks show up in the "Today" view)
b) setup <New Task Default Dates> to "End (Days from Start): 30" (NOTE: I use 28 for this value so that the start and end days fall on the same day of the week)
c) setup <Sort Order> to "Date, Priority, Subject"
d) check the <Ascending Date sort> box

2) New tasks are now automatically set as due 30 days (or in my case 28 days) from now

3) Upon doing a task, use "Menu -> Make due date today." This sets the task to the very top of the list, thus highlighting it.

4) When this task is recurrent/to be re-entered, use "Menu -> Move Task -> + Week" to move its new due date a week from now.

5) When entering a task that has a prerequisite event to happen first, remove the checks from the "Start Date" and "End Date" boxes.

^__________^

Oh, here is where you can find Pocket Informant for Blackberry OS:

http://www.pocketinformant.com/products_info.php?p_id=pocketinformant_bb

"Mark, it seems you made this new system exactly for me and my phone. I thank you very heartily ^_____________^"

I feel the same way re: Omnifocus. I can't believe how well it works. Sitting on a train, heading to Montreal, and following the rules. So far so good.

Avrum,

"Is there a way to have Omnifocus automatically sort/organize my tasks by due date? I can do this manually, but I'd prefer if this happens automatically."

I trust you can get it to work using a perspective, which is sorted by due date. You do know that OF supports syncing of perspectives nowadays? This is what made my own GTD+AF4-ish implementation finally work. I just use one perspective in which all the task are sorted by 'Changed', meaning that I have the tasks in the order they are entered (or re-entered if I have worked on them). Incidentally the perspective is called 'Autofocus' ;-)

JMTee,

How did you get them to display in the order they are entered/re-entered? I can only get it to show me the most-recently-changed ones at the top...or are you reading your list from the bottom up?

I'm using MLO for my tech implement, and so far its pretty cool. Input parsing allows you to quickly enter tasks with due dates. Eg: The input "Call Jim in 30 days" is converted to Call Jim with a due date 30 days from now.

Arrange by due date, and presto, you got a nice lookin' DWM list, something similar to the Pocket Informant set up described here. I am looking forward to the BB version of MLO that will sync the desktop with my device. Then I'll be really cookin' :)

I've always enjoyed AF only on paper, but an electronic implement feels better for DWM. I worry about missing the tactile feel, so I am maintaining a mirror paper version for now. If all goes well, I expect I will print out my list during the workday for the paper feel, and list any quick entries there to be transferred later.

Someone has a solution for android phones.
Seems google calendar is not the best solution. Well It could be a solution but I would like to separate work and home tasks easily and it is not very efficient with GC.

Brian,

Curse you: I thought I wasn't going to tweak any more, but that week and month tip is just too good to miss. Just spent a happy couple of minutes setting up hotkeys.

Mel,

I'm trying to use the toodledo sync to get this onto my iPod. Works when I'm away from the office firewall. Sigh.

At least due dates are shown in increasing order (whereas create dates are shown backwards).

@ Brian: excellent suggestion, works like a charm!

Thanks & cheers

Daniel M,

"How did you get them to display in the order they are entered/re-entered? I can only get it to show me the most-recently-changed ones at the top...or are you reading your list from the bottom up?"

Yes, I have the newest ones on top, if that's what you are asking. Unfortunately OF doesn't support reverse sorting as far I know. But I personally don't mind whether the newest ones are on top or bottom as long as they are consistently so on both Mac and iPhone. The main point is that with perspectives you can sort by any OF criterion: Added, Changed, Start, Due etc. so they should work very well with AF and DWM. Note that I think that one should use only one perspective i.e. one list to work from.

Hi:

Here is a solution for android : http://www.toodledroid.com/

I use toodledo on iphone....

I'd like to point out one of Mark's insights: all lists are closed except one week and one month from today. I'm finding this helpful in laying out my tasks in OneNote, and spreadsheet users might value the same. That is, I leave space after the seventh day to write new stuff in.

What I am finding useful is the "cycling through" method Mark recommends. Rather than look at one long list sort by expiry day, I filter my Excel spreadsheet by day to fist look at the expiry's 3 days out, than 4, than 5, etc...

Here's a nice picture of my Outlook Tasks setup. http://screencast.com/t/MDEwMmM3Y

Brian, how does it compare with yours?

(The astute reader will notice that the month and week starts are inconsistent. I started with Toodledo set to default to a month out. Which turns out to be 30 days.)

Filtered for open tasks. I tend to drag unfinished tasks to the +week page rather than closing them.

Very similar. Right now I am experimenting without the Due Date grouping and instead using Due Date sort asc and Created sort asc.

This helps me reinforce the idea of "one long list" that Mark clarified. But I can switch back and forth when the grouping is appropriate.

I will probably create a filter to remove tasks with Due date before today, then create another view to show the Task Graveyard (not complete, due date before today).

I've also reduced my Due Date changing method to "1w" and "1mo". I found the hard way that "1m" means 1 minute, and the due date doesn't change. ;-)

Thanks, Brian.

1w? 1mo??

Well that was a waste of time, setting up hotkeys.

"w" and "mo" seem to work as well.

I'm sticking with the groupings to try and get the "closed list" effect that Mark finds so effective. At least for now. I try to make sure I only have one "page" open at a time.

I'm with you Will, same here.

I've created an Excel spreadsheet to try Mark's latest. The spreadsheet has 4 tabs - Active, Completed, Expired, and Calendar. All tasks are entered on the Active page and macros date, mark, and/or move tasks (and appointments) to Completed or Expired. A macro also populates the Calendar tab to show tasks grouped by date.

If anyone wants to take a look, I zipped Excel 2007 and 97-2003 versions along with a read me. Excel 2007 may hesitate to open because of the macros, but the macros are very innocuous and only manipulate date in the spreadsheet. If you can't open the 2007, try the 97-2003. The only difference is that the older version won't show the tab names in color.

Here's the link: http://www.4shared.com/dir/30294730/ef210619/sharing.html

Brian,

Ooooh: it works for my follow up flags as well!!

Back to dates on follow ups, I think. I wonder how conversations will show...

The new system works perfect on a Palm Pre.

Thanks, i installed doodledroid but it is a todo list app, not a calendar. How can i use it for DWM?

Hi,

I use this system with toodledo. I use the due date information.
So when I'm done with my task I close it or move due date by 1 week

isd Put dates with your tasks. Look through the tasks in date order.

Seykota, I hope you move the due date to one week from today. It sounds like you push the task backwards from its current due date which is incorrect.

Alan, Seykota,

With Toodledo, it is very easy to move a task to a week from today.

http://screencast.com/t/YWYyMGZkY

I assume that this is what is intended.

Will,

I liked your idea of marking the current task in the list with an auto-format rule. However, to keep the system as simple as possible and syncable to my windows mobile phone (w/ Pocket Informant), I used the Outlook Importance field to mark the current task as Low. It gives a nice blue arrow pointing down the list, as if to say, from here downward. Avoids the custom-checkbox field, as long as you don't really use Outlook Importance for true priorities/importance. And be sure you're not sorting your list by Importance, otherwise your current task will jump around in the list.

Oh, using the due date would do the trick? I'll try this. But it means pretty much any todo app could be used, right?

<< Oh, using the due date would do the trick? I'll try this. But it means pretty much any todo app could be used, right? >>

That's the beauty of DWM. Toodledo has the advantage of having a web app as well as synchronizing apps for nearly all platforms, but there are many other viable solutions.

Andreas,

I'm using outlook on the PC synced to Toodledo with Toodledo on the iPod Touch to carry around. There are three flies in the ointment:

1. I can't see how to get the "closed page" effect in toodledo on the ipod.
2. I can't seem to be able to sync Outlook to Toodledo in the office and
3. I can't get a wifi connection in the office to sync to the iPod.

Brian,

I can see your reasoning. One thing about DWM is that it does work much better on the Windows Mobile PIM, which doesn't hold the created date. As I'm not syncing to that, though, I think I'll stick with my single click.